I Am Legend
by tielan
Summary: A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, a boy grows to be a man and goes out to seek his destiny.


**I Am Legend**

There are a thousand places a young boy can wander in the city. Atlantis is a constant adventure, and shaking off his watchers and wardens is a constant challenge.

Sometimes he pretends he's Ali Baba, exploring the Cave of Wonders.

Once, he really does walk into a cave of wonders - at least, he walks into a room full of interesting bits and pieces. He pokes at a few things, flicks at switches, pulls open crystal arrays like he's seen Rodney do. But he doesn't know which ones to move and which ones to leave, so he closes them again, and nothing responds to him.

He doesn't think much about it until he realises that the doors don't open for him either.

He beats his fists against them at first, more annoyed than scared. Then he realises that he's stuck here behind these doors, and the windows are sealed shut.

Above his head, an impersonal voice says something about containment and protocols and genestrains. All he knows is that he's tired and hungry and scared. And he can't feel Mama anymore - he always knows where Mama is, and Mama always knows where he is - but she doesn't know now.

It's John who opens the doors of this cave, walking into the room with an expression that goes from worried to surprised as the room lights up, unresponsive devices flashing into lights and colours in a moment.

"You had us worried," John says when he's called their position in. Rodney would be more interested in the devices, but John's more interested in him. "Your mom was especially scared for you."

He can understand that - he was scared, too. But he can feel Mama again - the door must have the shielding that the adults sometimes complain of - and John's here, so it's not so bad after all. Except for one thing. "Is she mad?"

"No," says John immediately. Then he grins and winks. "But it never hurts to seem a bit sorry when your mom's been worried."

He walks out of the room, holding John's hand, his own personal genie.

--

He's nearly nine when Mama and John decide he should spend more time with other children his age, so he spends seven days out of every thirty on New Athos, living with Halling like a second son. And every fifth-day, there is a story-night. If he's lucky, he gets two story-nights during a visit.

Most of the stories are about the Ancestors - the Ancients. They're less fanciful than the stories the Lanteans tell their children, but more respectful of the Ancients.

But some of the stories are real.

"Tonight, I shall tell you of a runner," says Oeling the teller of tales by the flickering light of the fire. The Athosian children 'oooh' with eagerness. "They are legendary throughout Pegasus - men and women who were captured by the Wraith and hunted for sport. Many die. But some have survived. This is the story of one."

He leans in with the others, intrigued in spite of himself. There's an atmosphere that all the sharp shadows in Atlantis can't convey, something in Oeling's craggy face and hushed that no-one in Atlantis can reproduce.

"...and with a great rumble of earth and rocks and dirt, the mountain collapsed, burying Kalin and all the Wraith who hunted him beneath its massive weight." Oeling lifts one finger. "And on Tozopa, they say that if you watch the ridges on a clear night, you can still see Kalin running through the hills with the starlight gleaming silver off his hair."

When he turns around to get up, Ronon's waiting to take him back, talking easily with Jinto. Halling and Jinto are thanked for their hospitality, and he shoulders his small pack and prepares to go back home. He could go by himself if they let him - but he's not allowed to travel by himself, not even on New Athos.

"Good tale-telling tonight?" Ronon asks when they're halfway to the Stargate.

"Was it really like that? Running, I mean?" He's not sure he should be asking this. No-one seems to talk much about Ronon's time before he came to Atlantis. It's not something the Lanteans think is very important - not the way the Athosians do.

For a little while, he thinks he shouldn't have said anything. Ronon just keeps walking along, but after a bit, his voice rumbles out of the shadows. "Nothing's really like the stories," he says.

"But you survived it."

"Yeah. That's all I could hope to do at the time - survive."

Later, safely tucked into bed with the imprint of Mama's lips on his forehead after refusing the offer of a Lantean bedtime story with his siblings, he thinks that the Pegasus stories aren't always as satisfying as the Lantean ones, but they're _realler_.

--

The first story he remembers being told is Star Wars. The passage of a boy into a man, and the discovery that he is the hope of the galaxy – and the son of the evil that plagues it.

_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away…_

The first time he's told it, he's five years old, and listens wide-eyed every night for a week while the various peoples of the city act out the drama. Chuck the technician is cast as Luke, Dr. Jennifer becomes Leia. John argues that he should get to be Han Solo while Ronon is Chewbacca.

He and mama have a good giggle when Dr. Jennifer declares (as Princess Leia) that she'd rather kiss a wookie and the 'wookie' takes her at her word. But there's no laughing as the nights progress and Darth Vader and the Emperor stretch their dark and dreadful hands over the galaxy and Luke is tempted towards the dark side.

Rodney sniffs at what he calls 'theatrics', refuses to take part in the enactment, and takes pains to point out all the technical mistakes and impossibilities inherent in the physics of the Star Wars Universe. "Besides," he says one day during a 'lesson' that is rather more listening to Rodney ramble than actual learning, "the movies are old. Classic, perhaps, but very dated."

"I wish Mama would let me see them," he sighs. He knows all about the movies, even if he's not allowed to watch them yet.

"Yes, well, your mom has her reasons, even if I don't agree with them."

"You could show me on your laptop..."

"Hah. Don't even try that with me, young man. I'm not about to get in trouble with Teyla, and you shouldn't either!"

When he finally gets to watch the movies, he understands why Rodney said they were 'dated' - he's seen much more impressive special effects in movies. He's seen much more impressive things in real life.

But the story - the original story - is still good. And he still grins when Leia would rather kiss the wookie.

He's thirteen before he fully understands the shadow that hangs over his birth - before he puts fragments of overheard conversations and pieces of understanding together and realises why he can always sense Mama, why the Athosians watch him so carefully, why Dr. Jennifer draws his blood regularly for testing.

Kanaan of Athos might have sired him, but he was engineered by Michael's twisted mind to be Pegasus' greatest hope - and its greatest danger.

--

He's not a child as Pegasus counts childhood - but not a man as Earth counts manhood.

"You're too young to do this," John says.

"By Earth standards, sure. By Pegasus standards..."

"By Pegasus standards, you're not ready for this either!"

"The Satedan forces took recruits at fourteen," he says with a glance in Ronon's direction. "Rodney made his first bomb at fifteen." He arches a brow at John. "You had your first girl at sixteen."

His levity earns a guffaw from both Ronon, a snort from Rodney, and a smiling eyebrow from Mama. John flashes them all a fierce glare before he returns to the argument.

"That was different. You don't have to do this."

"I think I do. Because Michael might still be out there. And some of the Wraith are." He places his hands on the briefing room table and leans in, mirroring John's own stance. "It's my future, John. And I'm the only one who can confirm this."

They taught him much of what they know, gave him so much of what he is - can they understand that he can't stay safe and stifled in Atlantis forever? That, like the sons of the Lantean fairy-tales, he must leave home to make his own fortune? That, like the children of Pegasus, he must learn to survive in a galaxy of uncertainty?

He can't let them stand before him - whether in protection or in prevention.

"If you need help planning..." Ronon begins, leaning forward.

"I'll ask when I do," he says, relieved to have Ronon on his side.

"The best place to probably start is the last report we had on any Wraith activity," Rodney says. "The details are on a server somewhere."

"I'll drop by before I go and jog your memory," he promises with a grin.

John looks to Mama, the final appeal. "Teyla, are you going to let him do this, then?"

Mama takes her time in answering, but not because she's going to hold him back. Mama understands. He can feel it in the connection between them - the Wraithgene she passed on him and his siblings, but which only he has in double measure.

She looks to John. "You chose the Air Force against your father's wishes," she says as though it is only the two of them. Then her gaze comes back to rest on her eldest son. "As he says; it is his future and he should have the right to fight for it."

--

He leaves at twilight, when the city is quiet.

Only those closest to him come to see him off - his family, his close friends, and the four people who gave him everything he is - including his freedom.

"Remember what I told you about Wraith systems."

"Hit first and hit fast."

"Keep in touch, okay? You know how to contact us."

Mama brushes her fingers through his hair and kisses him on both cheeks and forehead - a benediction and blessing.

"I love you."

"I know."

And he turns away, stepping out of Atlantis and into legend.

But that is another story.

**- fin -  
**


End file.
